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OPINION

Don't scrap chief justice tradition

Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson has served on the state Supreme Court for 37 years, 17 of them as chief justice. A Republican-backed constitutional amendment seeks to change the way the court chooses its chief justice.(Photo: AP)

EDITOR: There is a very important election on April 7. Not only will you be choosing a new mayor for Stevens Point, but also there are two very important decisions regarding the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

You are being asked to re-elect a justice, and you are being asked to change the state constitution as to the way our Supreme Court chooses its chief justice.

For over 100 years, the most senior, most experienced justice has served as chief. The chief justice has responsibilities far beyond the duties of the state Supreme Court: The chief is head administrator for the entire Wisconsin Court System. This requires someone who has a long history on the court and who has developed relationships with the legal community all over the state.

The current chief justice has spent a great deal of time working with youth all over Wisconsin, helping them learn about the court system. These activities require an enormous amount of work and these relationships require a long time to develop.

Our state constitution has served us well for over 100 years with the most senior justice serving as chief. It takes politics out of the equation. The state Legislature does not like the current chief because she is committed to preserve the independence of the judiciary. They want a partisan who will rubber stamp their entire legislative agenda. To get their way, they have taken the extraordinary step of changing Wisconsin's state constitution. They rushed through a bill that says that from now on the seven justices will chose their chief for a two-year term, rather than the most senior justice serving as chief. If there is a faction on the court, the court is likely to become more partisan. There could be a new, inexperienced chief justice every two years. The Legislature clearly does not want an honest discussion of this because there was almost no input from the public.

They rushed this to a vote in a low-turnout election. They intend for this to become effective immediately, not at the conclusion of the current chief's term. It is clear that their intention is purely partisan and not what is best for Wisconsin. While at first blush it may seem sensible to have the justices choose their chief, when you think about the ramifications and the real motivation behind this change you will see that this is one more partisan move on the part of the current state Legislature.